IST AUSTRIA

AUSTRIA

IST AUSTRIA

Third Year Undergraduate (of a four year course), MBiol Biology, In-person internship

Work Projects

My project consisted of two main aims, data

analysis and modelling. I was working with a

set of demographic data collected between

2009 and 2019 from a population of plants and

had to analyse demographic variables such as no. flowering stems and presence/absence over the years. To achieve this, I used the programming language R. Moreover, I developed a model for presence/absence and used it

to calculate maximum likelihood estimates for the three parameters in the model. I was also

trying to model the fitness of these plants using this demographic data, however, I ran out

of time before I could finish this.

Daily Life

I spent most of my days working in the office of the research group, surrounded by other

members of the group. I was accommodated on campus along with around 30 or 40 other

interns which I had plenty of opportunity to socialise with. We often ate lunch and had

coffee breaks together and played table tennis or pool in the communal areas in the

evenings. On the weekends, I spent a lot of time exploring Vienna with the other interns,

going to museums and cafes as well as bars and clubs in the evenings. We also travelled to

other cities nearby such as Budapest, Salzburg, Linz and Prague. Although my research

group was quite busy and many were still working from home, I settled in very easily due to

the inclusiveness of the other interns I was with. I met some lovely people who I hope to

stay friends with in the future.

Lasting Impressions

The experience has taught me that I enjoy research and could potentially enjoy a PHD. I

learned lots of research skills, becoming much more fluent programming in R, as well as

managing my own projects.

What practical advice would you give to future interns?

Try to set out clear aims for your project from the start so that you can focus on achieving

specific goals. Reach out to other members of the research group for help when stuck

instead of just relying on your supervisor. Take the opportunity to socialise and enjoy the

summer - don't burn yourself out with too much work.

Mengjiang Lin, Final year undergraduate, Master of Chemistry, In person working

Work Projects

The lithium-air batter has the highest

theoretical specific energy, nine time higher

than the current batteries, and therefore has

the potential to revolutionize the

electrification of transport. In order to realize

practical application, advances must be made

in understanding their operations. Specifically, the two major challenges are the insulating nature of the formed alkali superoxides/peroxides and parasitic reactions that are caused by

the highly reactive singlet oxygen. Recently, the benefits of introducing redox mediators

(RMs) were well recognized for improving rechargeability. However, it is unclear how they

affect singlet formation, which hinders strategies for their improvement.

This internship project is the continuation of recently published work by Freunberger Group.

The goal for this internship is to investigate the effect of the potential and concentration of

RMs on singlet yield. Quantification of the oxygen evolved during the disproportionation of

LiO2 in presence of different equivalents of low-voltage quinones of different redox

potentials was performed. Further investigation including the synthesis of LiQ by electro-

reduction and subsequent treatment with oxygen, as well as spectroscopic measurements

using in-situ UV-vis of the different species are planned.

Daily Life

Prior to our arrival in Austria, the funding

organization OEAD provided us with every

information you need in terms of settling

down. Most of the interns live on campus

and a small amount of them lived in city

centre of Vienna. It takes only 3-5 minutes

to walk to the lab if you live in campus

accommodation and around 1 hour by public transport if you live in Vienna. Outside my

work, I spent lots of time with my group members. We went on hiking, weekend trips, food

hunting in Vienna, etc.

Lasting Impressions

Generally speaking, it is a good experience especially for people who would like to pursue

an academic career. I gained a lot of practical experience in terms of lab work, as well as

scientific sense when working on my own project. This intern made my mind on staying in

the field of battery research for my DPhil.